This is not exclusive to Airguns since trends of Airguns are highly influenced by what type of Real Steel Pistols are popular to people. This is often based on what people see portrayed in movies and TV Series, and also promoted online. There is for sure an overlap in what is popular and it is hard to say what is influencing what? Is it the popularity of Pistols out in the real world that influences what we see being used in the movies and on TV? Or is it what we see in Movies and TV that influences our choices of pistols out in the real world? Perhaps it is a combination of both?

My list is based on my own personal experience and does not represent the entirety of types of Pistol designs available.

• Glock

• Sig Sauer

• 1911

• Beretta 92 / 84

• S&W M&P

• Makarov / Walther PPK

• 357 / 44 Magnum / Colt Single Action Army

• Desert Eagle

• UZI

Buy Airguns in Canada

Buy Airguns in the US

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Cost:

Airguns are generally cheaper to buy and for sure cheaper to shoot. Airguns can cost as little as $50-100 to buy while real guns in similar models will cost many time more. Cost of ammo is so much less expensive than Real Gun ammo by a mile!

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Difficulty to Obtain:

Airguns in most countries do not require any licensing or registration. Generally there are more available options in Airgun choices than Real Gun choices as restrictions often prohibit many Real Guns to be obtained.

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Places to Shoot:

Unless you live in a super remote locations and your laws allow you to shoot Real Guns in those locations, then in most cases you can shoot an Airgun almost anywhere within reason. You can even shoot certain Airgun models in your basement. Airsoft is a great option for indoor shooting as the plastic ammo does not carry very much energy so with minimal effort you can make a backstop that will trap the ammo very well.

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Trigger Time:

Because ammo is much less expensive and places you can shoot are easier to find, you can get a lot more Trigger Time under your belt which will also improve your shotgun with Real Guns and after all it’s just fun to shoot guns even if they are Airguns.

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Safety:

I am not talking about safety in terms of protection. I am talking about safety as in if you do something stupid and your Gun goes off accidentally. If you accidentally fire your Airgun indoors, the bullet will not travel through floors or walls and potentially harm or kill someone on the other side. If you do manage to shoot yourself with an Airgun, the consequence are much less severe than shooting yourself with a Real Gun. That said, always treat an Airgun as if it was a Real Loaded Gun, as server injury and even death can occur even with an Airgun.

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Ware Games and Training Situations:

There is no way you can use a standard Real Gun to shoot at people, unless extensively altered with special parts that make the Real Gun unusable to shoot live ammo. With Airguns you have the choice of using an Airsoft or Paintball gun that are both designed specifically for this purpose.

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Pest Control:

If you have the need for pest control in an urban area where you do not want a stray bullet to travel too far or penetrate buildings if a shot where to go awry, then an Airgun designed for accuracy and power may be perfect for the job. Accuracy with target and hunting Airguns is on par if not better than many Real Guns and are have powerful enough to kill a pest humanely without having too much power for the job and having to worry as much about your background.

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Prop Guns:

As mentioned already, Airguns can look a lot like Real Guns, so they are perfect to be used as a stand-in or Prop Gun when you need to simulate the look and function of a Real Gun. Again they are easier and cheaper to obtain and if something does go wrong, the consequences are much less severe.

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Social Stigma:

Unfortunately Real Guns and perhaps any gun these days are looked upon with a social stigma as being the cause of the Crime rather than a tool used in a Crime. And so people blame Guns for these crimes rather than the people committing these crimes. If a person is motivated enough to do something bad, they are going to do it either way and will use whatever means is available to them to commit these Crimes. Including other means like: Knives, Blunt Objects, Poisons, Vehicles, Explosives… Sad but true! Airguns are not used in homicides or mass shootings as they are completely underpowered for a crime like this. They can however be used in crimes as a show of threat, as they do look a lot like real guns, generally people that use Airguns for real crimes, if challenged will give up immediately as they are completely outgunned. Don’t bring an Airgun to a Real Gun fight, you have better chance with a knife!

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Gun Safeties generally are going to be similar for all types of guns, so Safeties used with Airguns are often the same types as used with Real Steel Guns. Some guns will have no Safeties at all while other guns many have multiple Safeties on them. In this informative video I go over six of the more common types of Gun Safeties used in Real Steel Guns and Air Guns.

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Here is a list of the more common types of gun Safeties.

• Trigger Safety

• Cross Bolt Safety

• Slide Safety

• Frame Safety

• Grip Safety

• Magazine Safety

In this Replica Airguns Video I talk about the latest Canadian Temporary Handgun Ban What it Means for Airguns. I talk about what I think abut it and what it means for Replica Airguns now and in the future.

Canada puts in place temporary handgun import ban!

From: Global Affairs Canada

News release

August 05, 2022 - Toronto, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. That is why the Government of Canada has a comprehensive plan that gets firearms off our streets and more

resources into our communities. A central part of this is the recently introduced Bill C21. The bill addresses the alarming role of guns in gender based violence, gets tough on organized crime and most significantly introduces a national freeze on the sale,

transfer and ownership of handguns, anywhere in Canada.

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, today announced a temporary import ban on the importation of restricted handguns. This will help bring the ultimate impact of the national handgun freeze into force sooner. This temporary ban means that individuals and businesses will no longer be able to import handguns into Canada, subject to narrow exceptions that mirror those in Bill C-21. These restrictions will take effect on

August 19th, 2022, and will last until the national freeze comes into force. No single program or initiative can tackle the challenge of gun violence on its own. That is why Bill C-21 and the national freeze on handguns are two of the many elements in the Government’s comprehensive plan to keep Canadians safe. This begins at our borders, where we’ve added resources to fight smuggling and stop guns from coming into Canada. We’re also investing in prevention programs to tackle the root causes of gun crime and stop it before it starts. Finally, we banned assault-style weapons like AR15s, and will soon begin a buyback program to get these weapons of war out of our communities once and for all.

Quotes

“We know that one Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. As a government, it is our duty to ensure that Canada remains one of the safest places to live in the world. The import ban announced today will help to keep guns stay off our streets as we work towards implementing Bill C-21, reducing gun violence in the immediate term.

- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“My top priority as Minister is keeping Canadians safe in their communities. Today’s announcement is further proof that we are using all tools at our disposal to fight gun crime in this country. It is a key pillar of our plan to address it, along with investments in prevention, action at our borders, a ban on assault-style weapons and Bill C-21 –Canada’s most significant action on gun violence in a generation.”

- Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety

I made a video a little bit ago talking about how Canada’s new Bill C-21 will affect pretty every gun owner in Canada including even airgun owners of BB, Pellet Airsoft and even Paintball Guns. Make sure to watch that video first called Bill C-21 Canada is Going After Your Red Ryder BB Gun.

This video is all about how you can get involved in making some waves by signing two online petitions along with contacting your local Member of Parliament and letting them know your disapproval of Bill C-21 and all that it imposes on law abiding Canadian gun owners.

Probably the most important online petition to sign would be the House of Commons Petition E-3201 Bill C-21 so make sure to sign that one!

The other online e-petition we need to sign is the change.org petition.

And lastly but also super important is to send an email to your local member of Parliament again let them know your disapproval of Bill C-21. I have included a link to the web[age where you can locate your local MP and below that is a template of what you could include in your email to them.

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-3201

Dear (MP),

I am a constituent in your riding. I am writing to you to voice my concerns over the new provisions that were announced under the proposed Bill C-21, and how this will impact myself, my community and many other Canadians.

"Criminal Code 1 (1) The definition replica firearm in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:

replica firearm means any device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, a firearm that is designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules, and that itself is not a firearm, but does not include any such device that is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, an antique firearm; (réplique)

(2) Section 84 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3.1): Certain firearms deemed to be prohibited devices

(3.2) For the purposes of sections 99 to 101, 103 to 107 and 117.03, a firearm is deemed to be a prohibited device if

(a) it is proved that the firearm is not designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second or at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules; and (b) the firearm is designed or intended to exactly resemble, or to resemble with near precision, a firearm, other than an antique firearm, that is designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second and at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules."

The long and short of it, Bill C-21 is an attack on law abiding Canadian gun owners and goes so far as to include the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun and many other Airguns as a Prohibited Firearm in Canada.

I am not a Lawyer or Bureaucrat so this video is my personal take on how I perceive the new Gun laws and Bill C-21. Please do your own investigation on these new laws and come to your own conclusions.

I don’t ask this often, please like and share this video with as many people as you can in Canada and outside of Canada. This is a new level of attack on Canadian Gun rights and we need to stand up for our gun rights or there will be no more guns in Canada eventually. This could happened in your country and has already happened in many others.

Make sure to also sign the change.org petition and call/email your local MP’s and Firearms Officers

https://www.change.org/p/canadian-government-stop-bill-c-21

Make sure to also sign ePetition e-3201 to put a stop to Bill C-21:

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-3201

Find your local MP:

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#

So how did we get here… Back in May of 2020 Trudeau (without going through Parliament) banned some 1500 (what he referred to as) Assault rifles. For the most part but not exclusive to, anything that looks scary with a semi auto action. Many rifles with semi auto actions that did not look scary where not on this banned list. Some bolt action rifles and even shotguns made it to this banned list of guns deemed by Trudeau as dangerous Assault Rifles.

Bill C-21 is now going after handguns in a similar capacity along with any Airgun that looks like a Firearm. 

In this video I am going to focus mainly on the Airgun side of how Bill C-21 effects Canadians so we are talking about BB Guns, Pellet Guns, Airsoft Guns, even Paintball Guns. But do understand if you own a handgun or even a rifle, Bill C-21 is coming after many of those guns as well making them literally impossible to own and use in any capacity other than keeping them in a safe at all times until you die in which it has to be relinquished without payment to the government.

How does Bill C-21 effect Airguns? Previously most Airguns where classified as Firearms but where unregulated so they didn’t require registration or even a Firearms license to sell, buy, own or use. Bill C-21 wants to make any Airgun that looks like a firearm (other than an antique firearm) prohibited. This means you will not be able to import, sell, or buy them in Canada. You will be able to keep your existing Prohibited Airguns but with extensive limitations on how you can keep and use them. Basically no use at all.

For the most part you will want to keep your now prohibited Airguns in a gun safe at home at all times or you risk having them confiscated from you since if you are transporting or using an Airgun, the police have the right to ask you to produce a Prohibited Firearms license which if I am not mistaken has not been made available since 1991, so the vast majority of gun owners especially none license holding Airgun owners do not have a Prohibited Firearms license nor is there any way to obtain such a license. How convenient!

Who does Bill C-21 effect? Firearms in Canada is a Multi Billion dollar industry and Airguns are an ever growing part of that industry. Bill C-21 effects Importers, Wholesalers, Retailers, Gun Ranges, Airsoft Fields, Gun Organizations, Gun Groups and of course every Firearm and Airgun owner in Canada. Bill C-21 wants to eliminate many aspects of the firearms Industry in Canada putting large and small business out of business. Replica Airguns will be gone if Bill C-21 passes in Canada, a business I founded and have been part of for over 15 years affecting many employees, families and of course customers.

How will Bill C-21 by eliminating the vast majority of Airguns in Canada keep Canadians safer and save lives as it proposes? I’m tryin to wrap my head around this one… So please tell me how many Pellet Rifles where used in mass shootings? How many drive by shootings involved Paintball guns? How many suicides have there been with BB pistols? How many police officers have died at the hands of an Airsoft wielding mad person? I’m going out on a limb here to say probably zero. And if any of these Airguns had been used in any of these situations that would have been a good thing because no lives would have been lost perhaps except for the user of the Airgun.

I want to end this video off with an example and an analogy of just exactly how ridiculous Bill C-21 is and how it will do absolutely zero to protect Canadians from criminals.

• Daisy Red Ryder BB Rifle (1940) Will now be a Prohibited Firearm in Canada

• Crosman 38T Pellet Revolver (1964) Will now be a Prohibited Firearm in Canada

• Crosman 357 Pellet Revolver (1983) Will now be a Prohibited Firearm in Canada

• Air-Ordnance SMG 22 Caliber Full Auto Machine Gun (Modern Airgun) Currently and even after Bill C-21 will be an Unregulated Firearm in Canada with no license or registration required.

Analogy of how Bill C-21 is supposed to Make Canadians Safer:

Bill C-21 is going after law abiding Licensed and Registered gun owners and only allowing them to keep their now Prohibited Guns but not allowed them to use their prohibited guns in any capacity. Prohibited guns must be in a safe at all times unloaded and locked. You are not allowed to transfer them anywhere, you are not allowed to sell, loan or give them to another person, and upon death the prohibited gun/s must be relinquish to the Government. According to Bill C-21 this is apparently going to help stop non license holding non gun registered criminals from committing gun related crimes that for the most part do not obtain their firearms legally.

This is like saying that ICBC (Canadas Vehicle Insurance Agency) has looked into motor vehicle accidents and found that a high majority of vehicle accidents are caused by people that do not have drivers licenses and that do not have registered or insured vehicles, furthermore ICBC has come to the conclusion that vehicles related to these accidents often times are import sedans that have been lowered and tuned. So in order to reduce car accidents ICBC will be focusing on drivers with drivers licenses and registered and license vehicles that fit this description and any other vehicle they deem a possible threat , these registered and licensed vehicle owners will still be allowed to own their vehicles that fit this criteria and have them registered but they will not be allowed to drive their vehicle/s anymore. Their vehicle/s must be kept in the garage at all times and never driven. You can not sell or loan your vehicle/s to anyone and these vehicle/s will not be allowed to be imported, bought or sold anymore in Canada. Once you die your vehicle/s are relinquished by the Government without payment no matter what their assessed value.

Please make sure to sign the change.org petition and call/email your local MP’s and Firearms Officers

https://www.change.org/p/canadian-government-stop-bill-c-21

We had a lot of great new Airguns that I reviewed this year at Replica Airguns. Some of them really stood out to me and so I made a video showing my Favorite Replica Airgun Picks of 2019. Of course there where many other Airguns that could has just as easily made this video but I had to draw the line somewhere and pick the ones that in my opinion where the best of 2019. Make sure to watch my Vimeo video where I go into some more details on why I liked each Airgun.

Below is a list of the top Replica Airgun Picks of 2019:

Pellet Rifles:

• Air Venturi TR5 .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle

BB Rifles:

• Crosman Bushmaster MPW CO2 Blowback BB Machine Gun

• Umarex Legends Cowboy Shell Ejecting CO2 BB Rifle

Airsoft Rifles:

• KWA Ronin TK.45 Tekken AEG 2.5 & 3 Airsoft Rifles

Pellet Pistols:

• Webley Nemesis Bolt Action CO2 Pellet Pistol

Airsoft Pistols:

• Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa 5.1 D.O.R GBB Airsoft Pistol

• Tokyo Marui FNX-45 Tactical GBB Airsoft Pistol

Paintball Guns:

• Umarex T4E S&W M&P9 M2.0 .43 Cal. Paintball Pistol

Blank Guns:

• ROHM RG-88 9mm PAK Blank Pistol in Polished Chrome

BB Pistols:

• Umarex Glock 17 4th Gen CO2 Blowback BB Pistol

• Air Venturi Springfield Armory 1911 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol

• Air Venturi Springfield Armory XDM Blowback CO2 BB Pistols

• Sig Sauer P365 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol

• KWC K17 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol

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It’s been a while since I had Blank Gun available for silent auction here in Canada and this one is an EKOL Firat Compact 9mm PAK Front Firing Blank Gun in great shape well kept and with only 20 rounds through it.

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It comes with a hard shell case, the flare adaptor, take down tool and manual. Pretty much everything it came with. The finish is closest to a stainless but I believe was called Chrome back in the day. I would call it a Satin nickel finish? Anyway watch the video and look at the photos to get a better idea of what I mean.

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The EKOL FIrat is a lot like the EKOL Jackal which also came in compact and Magnum version and resemble a Beretta 92. The EKOL Jackal however is semi auto and full auto capable while the EKOL Firat is semi auto only. This will save you a lot of money on blanks since blanks cost around $40 for a 50 pack.

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To take part in the silent auction for this EKOL Firat Compact 9mm PAK Front Firing Blank Gun you will need to email me and let me know what your top bid is for it. The person with the highest bid will become the new only once paid for.

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There are a couple things to keep in mind:

• Get your bids in by noon Monday December 23rd.

• Shipping will be added to the cost which is $29

• Payment must be made within 24 hours of notification via EMT (Email Money Transfer), details to follow.

• This can be a Christmas gift to yourself but it is not likely you will receive it by Christmas.

Best of luck to all participants!

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Here we have three very different products I Unbox and Preview for everyone. A Spring Piston multi-shot .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle, a single action BB/Pellet revolver that’s not a Colt! And a really nice looking Semi Auto Blank Pistol in a Chrome finish.

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Let’s start with the Air Venturi TR5 Spring Piston 5-shot .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle. I think this is a really well thought out Air Rifle. It’s “almost a Bullpup” in design but it does actually load in front of the trigger just a bit, that said most of the spring piston is behind the trigger setup making it really compact yet with a longer than normal barrel compared to regular Break Barrel Spring Piston Air Rifles. The Air Venturi TR5 Spring Piston 5-shot .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle also has a side lever cocking mechanism along with a 5 round auto indexing magazine which makes it much quicker to cock and reload for fast follow-up shots, again compared to a standard Break Barrel Air Rifle, not to mention no barrel droop! The Air Venturi TR5 Spring Piston 5-shot .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle has a claimed fps of up to 500 so we are getting the max amount of velocity possible for our Canadian laws without making it a regulated firearm and requiring a PAL license. And by the way the Air Venturi TR5 Spring Piston 5-shot .177 Caliber Pellet Rifle does come in both a Lime Green and all Black version just in case you are not a fan of the Lime Green finish I show in this video.

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Moving onto the Schofield No. 3 BB/Pellet 6 Shot Revolver Replica, if you like single action revolvers then take a look at the Schofield No. 3 BB/Pellet 6 Shot Revolver Replica. It’s a lot more bulky than a Colt Single Action Revolver and also has that top Break design that makes reloading quick and easy. The version we are selling inner Replica Airgun Online Store is the kit version that comes with 6 BB shells and 6 pellet shells so you can take your pick on ammo types. The barrel is not rifled so Steel BB’s will not hurt the Airgun and since pellets are skirted they do not need a rifled barrel to fly straight and true. You can expect around 445 fps for the Schofield No. 3 BB/Pellet 6 Shot Revolver Replica.

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Last up is one of my favorite Blank firing Semi Auto Pistols which I have already full reviews in the all Black version so checkout those Video Reviews for more info on the ROHM RG-88 line of Front Firing 9mm Blank Pistols. All I really wanted to show you guys with the ROHM RG-88 9mm PAK Blank Pistol in Polished Chrome is how awesome it looked with the Polished Chrome finish and that we do have more choices now than we use to have in terms of what finish you can get your ROHM RG-88 in. Personally I like the Polished Chrome finish the best but you can also get it in all Black and Matte Chrome, so you decide which one you like the best.

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A while back I made a Vimeo Video named” Is an Airgun Good for Self Defense?” It’s been pretty popular on YouTube getting over 2 million video views and I get a lot fo feedback from my viewers with varying opinions on this issue. I like constrictive feedback and enjoy hearing what my YouTube viewers have to say as long as everyone is being civil about it and not just trying to start an argument.

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In my first video on this subject I pretty much go on the record saying I don’t think Airguns are a good choice for self defense and there are for sure way better alternatives but many of you disagreed with me and so I decided to make this update or revisit video and go over some of the top pushback comments I get and see if they have some merit to them.

Here are the top 4 pushback comments I get the most often:

• When the bad guy sees the airgun they are going to run away thinking it’s a real gun.

• Just shoot the bad guy in the eyes / face.

• Use an HPA large caliber rifle.

• Use a full auto high capacity Airgun.

Watch my “Is an Airgun Good for Self Defense Revisit” Vimeo video to see how I address these pushback comments.

I have some harder to get here in Canada Blank Guns that I am selling from my personal collection by way off Silent Auction. These Blank Guns are more for the Canadian collector and perhaps not so much for the first time buyer. I would recommend for the first time Blank Gun buyer that you checkout our selection off brand new ROHM Blank Guns that we sell in our Canada Replica Airguns Store so check those ROHM Blank Guns out as they are excellent German made Blank Guns in a variety of styles.

Getting back to the Blank Guns in my personal collection. They are all previously owned, most only test fired once for review. Below is a listing of the Blank Guns I am offering in this Silent Auction with what I feel is there approximate value:

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• ARAL 622K Black 9mm PAK Front Firing New (Just fired once for review video): $299

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• EKOL Aras Compact 9mm PAK Gloss Black Front Firing (New Condition): Missing magazine, should be able to buy and import magazine into Canada pretty easy. Takes the same magazine as most of the EKOL Blank Guns (Jackal, Dicle, ASI, Firat) $299

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• Bruni Mod. 92 8mm PAK Black Top Venting in working condition: A bit weathered but still looks good and super solid gun. Comes in a real Beretta case. $299

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• EKOL Arda 8mm PAK Gloss Back (Just fired once for review video): $199

Here is how the silent action system works… First of all I will only be shipping these guns within Canada to a Canadian addresses and all funds are in Canadian Funds. You will need to email me and let me know which Blank Gun or Blank Guns you are interested in bidding on and let me know what your best price is. In approximately a weeks time when I feel enough offers have come in, I will then contact the winning bidder and give them 24 hours to pay up. If they do not pay me the amount they offered within the 24 hours I will then move on to the next highest bidder.

If you are bidding on more than one gun then I will take this into consideration since collecting money and shipping product to one buyer is easier than multiple buyers so this will help you with your offer.

I also will be charging $20 for shipping per gun, if you are buying multiple guns then I will discount the shipping a little bit so I will not charge you $20 per gun.

Email me here:

mike(at)replicaairguns(dot)com

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This was the first time shooting a blank gun in the new Sea Can and I can tell you it was pretty loud inside but of course I was wearing ear protection! In this Blank Gun Shooting video I test out the ARAL Model 1453 and 622K 9mm PAK Blank Guns and put 3 rounds through each of them.

Not everything went as planned. First off my high speed slow motion camera decided to not work :( and secondly I had some technical issues with both guns, well sort of...

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Since the manual for the ARAL Model 1453 does not cover what I believed to be a safety on the back of the slide, I had no idea and was surprised to find out that rather than a safety, this selector switch is actually a semi and full auto selector which is kind cool but not so much when you're not expecting your blank gun to be shooting in semi auto :) Keep in mind this semi-full auto switch is only on the all black ARAL Model 1453 and not the two tone version.

Moving on to the ARAL Model 622K 9mm PAK Blank, I have a feeling that perhaps a different brand of ammo may have worked better in it. The 9mm PAK Blanks I used worked OK but I did get a failure to eject and the last round seemed to also not eject properly probably because there was no bullet in the mag too help direct it out of the breach area.

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What do yo know, a new Blank Gun Review! It's been a while since I actually saw some new Blank Guns other than our ROHM selection that made it past our wonderful Canada Customs.

So how do the ARAL Model 1453 and ARAL 622K compare to our ROHM Blank Guns? Well to be honest they don't. Our ROHM Blank Guns are much better quality and made in Germany rather than Turkey.

But still it's nice to hold a new Blank Gun in my hands even if it's not the best quality. The two ARAL blank guns I take a look at in this Table Top Video Review are the ARAL Model 1453 and ARAL 622K 9mm PAK versions. Both are front venting and both have double stack 14 round magazines. They also have threaded inner barrels however no flare adaptor came with either on of them and I only got an included manual with the ARAL Model 1453.

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In terms of what exactly real steel guns do they look like or resemble? The ARAL Model 1453 is kind of like a big chunky and somewhat ugly looking Glock. I have nick named mine the RoboGlock :)

The ARAL 622K resembles a CZ 75 but it's a fair bit smaller in size and much shorter. The finish on my ARAL 622K is really bad, it looks like someone took a can of spray paint and painted it themselves. But still they are working blank guns, well let's hope so when I test them out in my upcoming Field Test Shooting video... Fingers crossed!

First off I want to say it’s hard to trouble shoot technical or mechanical problems over the internet regardless of if ithas to do with guns, cars, computers or pretty much anything where unless you are there in person it’s really hard to figure out the problem.

But I will attempt to address some of the more common issues why a blank gun may not be functioning properly.

Why is my Semi Auto Blank Gun Not Cycling or Ejecting Shells?

One very common reason a blank gun may not be cycling the shells properly is because the owner has removed the barrel restrictor plug. People usually do this to make the barrel opening look more realistic but the barrel restrictor is a necessary component to increase the back pressure allowing the slide to cycle fully to the rear position so it can eject and pickup a new shell.

The blanks you are using may not have enough gun powder in them. Some blank guns require banks with more gun powder than others, again this additional internal pressure forces the slide all the way back, if the blank does not have enough gun powder in it then only a partial slide motion happens and so the discharged shell may not eject properly, in this case the user would have to clear the blank gun manually so another shell can then be picked up and loaded into the breach.

If your blank guns is dirty or not lubricated then it may act sluggish again restricting the full movement of the slide which will effect correct operation. Make sure to thoroughly clean and lubricate your blank gun, that may be a quick fix for you!

You may have a faulty extractor? The extractor is like a hook that grabs the discharged shell while the slide is in the reward position pulling or extracting the shell out of the breach. If the extractor is worn or broken then the empty shell will not be ejected from the breach so when a new shell is picked up from the magazine it has nowhere to go and usually you will get a jam-up in the ejection port area.

One final situation that can cause your blank gun to not cycle properly is to strong of a slide spring, some blank guns out of the box just come with a really heavy slide spring, so much so that even blanks with lots of gunpowder in them are still not strong enough to make the slide operate full motion. Your only option here would be to replace the heavy slide spring with a lighter one.

Why Are My Blanks Not Firing?

This is a situation where you pull the trigger and nothing happens. Lets get the obvious causes right out of the way here… Did you put blanks in your gun and are they new blanks? Did you chamber the first round in your semi auto pistol?

So now that that’s out of the way let’s look at some other reasons why your blank gun may not be firing a blank. Perhaps the firing pin is broken? Most blank guns are not made out of carbon steel and even the firing pins can be lesser quality than what you would find in a real gun so blank guns are more prone to breaking than real guns. I have seen broken firing pins in blank guns first hand so make sure to check the firing pin and that it is fully operational.

Try changing up your blanks to another brand? Again blank gun ammunition is not made to the same higher standards that real firearm ammo is made and some primers may require a little more pressure than your gun is providing. Even with real guns an ammo change may help the gun operate better.

Why is the Trigger or Hammer Not Operating Properly?

I have come across blank guns where there are mechanical problems in the trigger and hammer areas, you may be able to address this yourself but I would recommend taking your blank gun to a gunsmith since you will have to take the gun pretty much full apart to fix a problem in the trigger and hammer areas.

Of course make sure your gun is clean and lubricated, this can help a lot with the mechanical areas of your blank gun.

One problem I saw with a few EKOL Special 99’s was specifically with the single action potion of the trigger, when I would pull the hammer back it would not lock back and the hammer would often slip and fire randomly, this is rather dangerous. When I took the gun apart I found that the table top or step that the trigger was supposed to catch on was worn down on the edge so it would simply slip off. I was able to fix this by filing a new edge on the step area. Again this can happen because blank guns are not made out of as high quality metal materials as real guns.

Why does the Flame Come out the Top of My Blank Gun and Not the Front?

If you find that the flame or discharge comes out of the top of your blank gun and not the barrel, this usually does not mean anything is wrong with your blank gun. All it means is you own a top venting blank gun and not a front firing blank gun. In some countries front firing blank guns are not allowed but front venting blank guns are. The same may also be reversed in some countries, for instance here in Canada we can only import front firing blank guns with flare adaptors since our blank guns are imported under the assumption that they are to be used as signaling or flare devices.

Can I Convert my Top Venting Blank Gun into a Front Venting Blank Gun?

I really don't recommend altering a blank gun in any way as it may be a violation of your local laws and it could cause the blank gun to malfunction in a very bad way causing serious injury or even death!

In theory I suppose it may be possible to convert your Top Venting Blank Gun into a Front Venting Blank Gun but again you would need to allow for just the right amount of back pressure so a wide open barrel would not work unless it was a revolver. You can not simply remove the red plug and bingo you have a front firing blank gun because in most cases the barrel will be completely plugged in the frontal region. Not only would you need to drill out the plugged portion of the barrel but you would also have to somehow fill in the top venting area and again makes sure to allow for just enough back pressure to cycle the slide back and forth.

Hopefully this has helped some of you with blank gun issues. If you’re looking for a blank gun make sure to come down to www.ReplicaAirguns.ca and www.ReplicaAirguns.us and have a look in our blank gun area of our online stores.

This is not to say that a “Real Gun” is not as good as an Airgun or better in other ways, in this video I’m just pointing out how an Airgun in some cases can actually be better suited than a Real Gun.

Availability: What I mean by this, is that in many countries Real Guns can be very hard to acquire and often require safety course and applications before one can purchase a Real Gun. I have no problem with this but it is a reality that must be considered. Having an Airgun versus not having a gun at all makes it a better option for people that live in countries that have strict gun laws. Here in Canada we are allowed Real Guns, even pistols but we do have restriction on our pistols and so I can only get certain guns in an Airgun version. As a collector this is better than not having the gun at all.

Price to Buy: Generally speaking you can pickup an enter level Airgun for much less money than a real gun.

Cost to Shoot: Real gun ammo prices have been steadily increasing to the point that a day out shooting can cost several hundred dollars just on the ammunition alone.

Comparison of Price:

• 50 rounds of 9mm ammo will cost around $18.00

• 6000 rounds of 4.5mm Steel BB will cost about $18.00

• CO2 is a bit less than $1 per 12 gram Cylinder which can yield up to 100 shots each.

• To shoot 100 rounds of 9mm will cost close to $40 versus 100 shots of 4.5mm steel BB at around $1.

• For this reason alone an Airgun can make a lot of sense even for Real Gun owners looking to get more cost effective practice time.

Access to Shooting Locations: Depending on where you live you will have to consider your local laws and where you are allowed to shoot both types of guns but typically you can shoot an Airgun safely just about anywhere as long as you implement some backstop safety precautions. Here in Canada we can only shoot a pistol at designated gun ranges, where as Airguns have a lot more allowances to shot them as long as you are not braking any city bylaws.

Training Guns: Even if you plan to eventually step up to a Real Gun at some point, an airgun is a great option to first learn proper gun handling skills since if you where to make a mistake, the consequences are much less severe. Airguns are also a lot less intimidating than a real gun since they are much quieter and have less recoil, you don’t even need to wear ear protection with most Airguns which means an instructor can communicate to his pupil on the range a lot easier.

Prop Guns: Since Replica Airguns look so much like real guns these day, they can often be used as a safer substitute for use in Movie, TV or other Photo and Video productions. Using a Real Gun on set generally requires a certified “Gun Wrangler” be on hand as Real Guns must be transported, stored and handled using very strict regulations. Airguns generally do not need to follow the same rigid regulations that Real Guns are bound to.

Tactical Training with Live Targets: Obviously shooting a real gun at a live target would not fair well for anyone involved, so that is completely out of the question. Airsoft Airguns are however perfect for Tactical Training and other weapons based simulations. All that is required for safety when using Airsoft guns is the use of eye protection and generally some heavy clothing.

I am sure there are some more areas in which Airguns may have the advantage over a Real Gun but these are the main ones that I could think of.

It has been a while since I picked out some of my favorite guns, after all my favorite gun picks change on a daily basis since there are so many awesome guns out there to pick from.

This Vimeo video is a little different since I pick out my favorites from a bunch of mostly replica gun categories including Steel BB, Pellet, Airsoft, Revolvers and Blank Pistols.

You may notice most of my picks happen to be blowback guns but to me airguns are all about being as realistic as possible and having blowback operation to me help to simulate the realism that much more. The exception in this video is in the pellet gun category since I decided on a pellet gun that was more about function and purpose over being any type of real replica.

Hopefully you take the time to watch my entire Vimeo video since I also bring out some close runner ups but here is a list of my top picks on this day, tomorrow it could be a completely different list of guns ;) 

• Steel BB - Umarex/KWC Smith & Wesson M&P 40 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol

• Pellet - Webley & Scott Tempest .22 Caliber Pellet (Spring Piston)

• Airsoft - KJWorks KP-11 1911 Hi-Capa 1911 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol

• Blank - ROHM RG-88 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol

• Revolver - Dan Wesson 715 Revolver (BB, Airsoft, Pellet Versions)

Buy Umarex/KWC Smith & Wesson M&P 40 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol in Canada

BuyUmarex/KWC Smith & Wesson M&P 40 CO2 Blowback BB Pistol in the US

BuyWebley & Scott Tempest .22 Caliber Pellet (Spring Piston) in Canada

Buy KJWorks KP-11 1911 Hi-Capa 1911 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol in Canada

Buy ROHM RG-88 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol in Canada

I will be showcasing here on the Replica Airguns website and over on the Replica Airguns YouTube channel a series of videos I will be making for the purpose of selling some guns out of my personal collection. I simply have no more room for the new guns and in some cases I either have duplicate guns or very similar versions so there is no need to have both. Some guns I am less attached to and as I already stated I need to make room for some of the new stuff I will be reviewing.

To start this series off my first video is to highlight the blank guns I am selling, there are only 4 of them, all of which are really hard to get here in Canada so I am not going to let them go cheap. By the way I am only selling to Canadian residents since shipping cross borders is a little sketchy.

Make sure to watch my above YouTube video to see the blank guns I am selling and instructions on how you can take part in the sale and purchase of them.

Here is a list of the blank guns I am selling from my personal gun collection:

EKOL ASI 9mm Full Auto Front Firing Blank Machine Pistol $725

EKOL Lady Chrome 9mm Front Firing Blank Pistol $400

EKOL Arda 8mm Blank Front Firing Compact Revolver $200

Bruni ME Ranger 1873 SAA .380 Blank Revolver $300

When I say Airguns, I am referring to pretty much all BB, Airsoft, Pellet, Paintball and even Blank guns for most of the topics listed here.

Do’s:

1. Treat your Airgun just like you would a real gun. If something goes wrong, perhaps the outcome will not be as severe but do you really want to take a trip down to your local emergency ward to get a BB or Pellet removed?

2. Always assume your airgun is loaded, for some reason it always seems those empty guns are the ones that do the most damage.

3. Be discrete, If it looks like a gun other people will think it is a gun so don’t flash your airguns around in public. Keep it in a case when transporting and shoot it in an area that will not alarm other people.

4. Always wear eye protection when shooting your Airgun. Do you really want to shoot your eye out? No Joke!

5. Be aware of your surroundings like windows, hard objects that could make your ammo bounce back at you. Make sure you are shooting your Airgun in a safe direction at all times, know your target and beyond.

6. Use Airguns to teach others and learn how to safely and effectively shoot a gun. Airguns can be less intimidating then a real gun (Not so loud and very little recoil) and make for great start out and transitions guns.

7. Use Airguns to get more inexpensive trigger time and become a more experienced shooter. Airguns cosy only pennies per round to shoot and can be shot in way more areas than a real gun can, practice makes perfect so get shooting!

8. Use Airguns in areas where real guns may not be allowed or safe to use. Again, Airguns can be shot in all kinds of places, in your back yard or even in a properly setup indoor home range.

9. Use Airguns with adequate power for safe and humane pest control where real guns may be prohibited.Airguns are quiet and less likely for the bullet to travel long ranges which makes them ideal for close range pest control in areas where real guns are too loud and to powerful.

Don’ts:

1. Do not assume because it is an airgun it is not dangerous or simply a toy. Many Deaths have been caused by Airguns along with a lot of pain and suffering so treat your Airgun with respect. It is not a toy or you would find them in the toy department at your local store along with yo-yos and stuffed animals.

2. Do not point or shoot at people unless of course you are using an Airsoft gun in an Airsoft field or facility. Yes Airsoft guns are meant to shoot at each other (with appropriate attire like eye protection and full body clothing), but steel BB and Pellet can cause serious injury especially at close range and on direct skin contact.

3. Do not leave your Airgun loaded, you never know who is going to come across it and accidentally discharge it. Remember, a loaded gun is a dangerous gun in the wrong hands. You may know better than to assume the gun is undulated but children and even adults without any gun training will most definitely handle the airgun without consideration of the danger it poses.

4. Do not use an Airgun for self protection. See my related video. Simply put, Airguns are not practical for self defense because they rarely have enough Stopping Power. The ones that do have enough power need to be pre-charged and in most cases are only single shot meaning if you miss or don’t get the job done no the first shot then you are done.

5. Do not use an underpowered Airgun for pest control. See related video. Using a low powered BB pistol for pest control is cruel, you will only injure the animal making it suffer unnecessarily. Use a high powered pellet rifle to get the job done.

6. Do not take your gun apart, in most cases this will void the warranty and the reality is that airguns rarely need to be cleaned since no dirty gun powder is used. lead pellet rifles may require occasional barrel cleaning to keep the rifled barrel free of debris.

7. Do not over oil your Airgun, a little goes a long way and too much oil will just attracted dirt, use the right airgun oil and just enough to keep part functioning smoothly.

8. Do not over pump an Airgun. Over pumping an Airgun can cause damage to valves and seals and in a worse case situation a rupture the air pressure reservoir or even cause the airgun to explode!

I'm getting close to uploading 600 videos now over on the Replica Airguns Vimeo channel, so there are bound to be a lot of similar questions and popular discussions. In this Replica Airguns Vimeo Video I address what I feel are my Top 10 Most Common Airgun Questions and Discussions.

1. Can I shoot my CO2 gun without CO2? (1:00)

2. Can I refill CO2 Cartridges? (2:08)

3. Will XYZ BB gun kill a bird, rat, rabbit, gopher…? (3:33)

4. Can I shoot Airsoft BB’s in my BB gun? (5:58)

5. Can I use my Airgun for self defense? (7:47)

6. Do Airguns & blank guns have recoil? (10:42)

7. Why play around with Airguns, just buy a real gun?(12:50)

8. Can I have a free gun? (17:15)

9. Which gun should I get? (19:10)

10. Mike, can you do a review of such and such a gun? (20:05)

What is a Blank Gun?

The best way to describe a Blank Gun is to imagine it as a real gun in just about every way except one… There are no dangerous bullets flying out the front of it. That’s right, a Blank Gun just like a real gun uses a brass or metal shells, loaded with a primer and gun powder, but for what ever reason reason, some rocket scientists forgot to put a bullet at the end of the Blank shell. 

Why Would You Want a Blank Gun?

Isn’t the entire purpose of a gun to shoot something? So why on earth would you buy a gun that doesn't  shoot anything at all, what purpose would it serve? Even Nerf guns, water guns, potato guns all shoot something…

One way to look at a Blank Gun is to imagine it as a cap gun, but for grown ups. Similar to how kids like to shoot their cap guns because they go bang and sparks and smoke fly out of them, Blank Guns do the same thing but on a much grander scale and in most cases they look and sound a lot more like a real gun than a cap gun does.

So Blank Guns don’t actually do the main function of a real gun (that is to shoot a bullet), but they do look and sound the part of a gun. So how could this be of practical use to anyone?

Signalling Devices:

First off, have you ever heard of a Starter Pistol or a Flare Gun? Blank Guns have been historically used to signal the start of races. Many Blank Guns also have the ability to shoot flares by adding a flare adaptor to them so a person can shoot a flare into the air to signal distress if they are lost or hurt.

Gun Handling and Training:

Since many Blank Guns look, operate and feel almost exactly like real guns, Blank Guns are a great place to start out when training a person on proper gun handling and operation. If they make a mistake while using a Blank Gun, the consequences are far less severe than with a real gun. There is also much less kick from a Blank Gun so shooting a Blank Gun is less scary or intimidating for new shooters.

Dog Training:

Dogs used for police, military and hunting are required to stay calm around loud noises like gun shots, trained dogs also need to get used to the presence of guns and even how to attack the gun hand of a person who could be a potential threat. Again using Blank Guns in this training situation is a much better option than using a real gun for obvious reasons.

Movies, Video TV and Stage:

Introducing live ammunition on a movie set would be ridiculous, there is absolutely no need to shoot a bullet in this type of situation. Blank Guns make perfect stage props since they again look the part and sound the part without the dangerous bullets flying all over the place…

Collectors:

Many collectors want to own guns but for reasons like gun restrictions in their area, they may not be able to own a real gun or certain types of real guns. Blank Guns can offer a person with heavy gun restrictions in their area the ability to own similar Blank Gun versions. Perhaps they can own real guns but just simply don’t want to go through the licensing and registration hassle of owning a real gun. Blank Guns can generally be purchased for far less money than a real gun which is appealing to collectors who in many cases may not even shoot them.

Celebration:

In places like Turkey, people celebrate holidays and events by shooting Blank Guns into the air, at one time they actually shoot real guns, but people where getting injured or even killed by the falling bullets. Because of this, Blank Gun production became an industry in places like Turkey as Blank Gun manufacturers like EKOL, Retay and Zoraki (also know as ATAK Arms) are Turkish companies.

So now you know some of the reasons why a person would want to own a Blank Gun. I have Blank Guns and I also own real guns too. One reason is because there are many Blank Guns I own that I can not own in their real steel versions because of Canadian gun restrictions so obtaining a similar version in a Blank Gun allows me to own these models.

If a Blank Gun is not for you, then by all means get a real gun, but please understand that there is a place for Blank Guns, and in those environments, a Blank Gun is actually a better choice than a real gun.